“I’m truly delighted to have this opportunity to work alongside people from Korea.”
“Thank you for the warm welcome.”
When I readily returned his greeting, Ito’s lips curved into a smile, and he continued his cordial reception.
Was the journey here difficult? Were you satisfied with the Japanese airport?
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, Ito politely showed us the way.
Our destination was a hotel in Kagoshima Prefecture—an esteemed luxury hotel overlooking a breathtaking stretch of coastline.
***
Thud!
Upon arriving at the hotel, Kang Changho and I met the rest of Japan’s S-rank hunters.
However, something felt off from the very beginning. Kang Changho, who stood nearly 190 centimeters tall, struck his head against the doorframe as he entered the room. The hunter waiting on the other side froze midway through his greeting and cried out in alarm.
“H-H-Hello...! Are you all right?”
When an S-rank hunter collided with concrete, it was usually the concrete that broke, so there was little reason for concern.
“Hello. I’m Kim Giryeo.”
After confirming that the doorframe was intact, I extended my hand to the person standing before me. Incidentally, every hunter in the room possessed monstrous awakening values.
Starting from the right: S-rank, S-rank, A-rank, S-rank...
A ten-person team composed entirely of hunters ranked A-class or higher.
This was the dragon-hunting force Japan had assembled.
‘Most of the A-ranks are support types, such as buffers and healers.’
I swept my gaze across the gathered hunters. Then a cheerful voice rang out from the opposite side.
“By the way, I’m genuinely touched that the Korean hunters came all this way to help us. Thank you for cooperating with the raid.”
“Well.”
“As expected of Jung Haseong’s country. Korean hunters truly possess a strong sense of justice!”
Ah, right.
Come to think of it, I had only learned after arriving here that Jung Haseong was surprisingly famous in Japan.
“I’m a huge fan of Jung Haseong~”
“Really? Then you must be disappointed that someone like me came instead of Haseong.”
“Heuk! N-No! That isn’t what I meant at all!”
The hunter who had introduced himself as Iori widened his eyes and hurriedly continued.
“Besides, now that I think about it, it may actually be a good thing that Haseong didn’t come! If he had, things would have become unnecessarily complicated.”
There was one particular reason for his negative reaction.
Coincidentally, Japan’s highest-ranked hunter was also a fire-attribute awakener, just like ours.
“This planet seems to have an unusually large number of fire attributes, so I suppose it isn’t impossible.”
As everyone knew, Jeong Ha-seong was a natural-born pyromancer whose magical power was one and a half times greater than that of the average S-rank.
But his overwhelming magical power was not his only distinction.
Because of his obsession with raiding gates, Haseong had once been called the Dungeon-Clearing Machine, and the achievements he had accumulated were nothing short of superhuman.
“Was the person who greeted us at the airport Japan’s pyromancer?”
As a result, a certain hunter was frequently compared to Jung Haseong.
Because of one deranged workaholic, the unfortunate runner-up was forced to endure endless, unwanted hardship—or so the story went.
“Hunter Kim, in case you weren’t already aware, please refrain from mentioning Jung Haseong in front of our guild leader.”
“Yes. Understood...”
I nodded at the Japanese hunter’s warning.
They said that even a tiger would appear when spoken of.
Sure enough, the leader of the Imabari Guild entered the room immediately afterward.
“I apologize for being late. I’ve brought the rest of the team with me.”
Following Ito’s lead, four more Japanese hunters entered.
These were all the participants in the upcoming dragon raid.
And the reason every raider had been gathered in one place was...
“Thank you all for coming. As discussed earlier, please sign the document here.”
The Knight’s Oath was soon placed before them.
I had decided to finalize the terms of my compensation before entering the gate. It would be troublesome if they accepted my help only to renege on the agreement afterward.
Contract Contents
Upon completion of the raid, Kim Giryeo shall select and receive one item from among the loot dropped by monsters within the so-called [Kagoshima Gate].To allow for the accurate identification of all dropped items, every raid participant must disclose to Kim Giryeo the rewards they have obtained.(This disclosure must be completed within three days of the boss monster’s death.)
I would take one item from the dungeon’s drops.
“If the dragon’s heart happens to drop by some miracle, we’ll be in quite a predicament~”
“Akada, stop making jokes in front of our honored guests.”
Right.
Naturally, they assumed I was after the dragon’s heart.
But the item I wanted was something else entirely.
‘The lung.’
A discarded, worthless organ with no special function.
That alone was what I needed.
“If I went through such terrible odds only to get something like a dragon’s eye, I’d honestly want to throw the whole thing away.”
My gaze unconsciously drifted toward Kang Changho, but I quickly turned forward again.
“Disclosing every item obtained from the dungeon...”
The Japanese side might not have been entirely satisfied with the terms, but they would not be able to refuse.
If Kim Giryeo fails to ‘completely restrict’ the boss monster’s movements, this contract shall be rendered null and void.3-1. The criteria for complete restriction are as follows... [omitted]
After all, the conditions under which I would be deemed to have failed were also clearly defined.
“Completely restrict the boss?”
“What kind of ability does that S-rank possess?”
“I don’t know.”
If the hired hand failed to earn his keep, the contract became invalid.
I believed that clause alone should have been enough to reassure them.
“I think the terms are reasonable.”
“So do I.”
“If you consider it the price of borrowing an S-class hunter’s help, it’s actually quite cheap. It doesn’t cost us any money, does it?”
The Japanese hunters hesitated for a moment, then began signing the document one by one.
Under ordinary circumstances, they might have considered the matter more carefully. But with Japan standing on the verge of collapse, they had little choice.
“You aren’t even going to participate in the battle directly. You’ll just support us from the rear and still take a cut?”
Naturally, a few dissatisfied voices remained, but that was a problem that would resolve itself.
“Hey, think about it. No matter how many dragons are inside that dungeon, it isn’t as though a Dragon’s Eye or Dragon’s Heart will drop easily, right?”
“T-That’s true...”
“And even if one does drop, if he can really incapacitate an S-rank boss, that’s the least we should pay him. During the Hawaii incident, the Nuckelavee was the greatest obstacle, after all.”
By that point, anyone could see which option was more advantageous.
“All right. It’s done.”
A moment later, I looked down at the Knight’s Oath, now bearing the signatures of every raider.
With my compensation secured, all that remained was to focus on the strategy for hunting the dragon.
“Now that the contract has been settled, why don’t we have a meal while we explain our raid plan?”
I accepted Ito’s offer.
***
“Korean rankers are arrogant.”
Amid the subdued bustle of the hotel restaurant, quiet Japanese words drifted from a table far from Giryeo’s.
“His expression hasn’t changed once since he appeared at the airport.”
“Really?”
“Are those people not frightened at all? They’re about to enter an S-rank gate.”
The Japanese man’s expression remained calm, but his tone was cutting.
He was not deliberately trying to sound hostile. Yet while he himself was terrified out of his mind, the other party appeared entirely untroubled, and the contrast stirred a faint irritation within him.
“Hmm.”
At his words, the S-rank hunter Iori turned around.
The highest-ranking hunters from Korea were still eating calmly.
They certainly looked far too relaxed for people preparing to enter a life-or-death situation...
“Perhaps it’s because they won’t be directly participating in the battle?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying!”
Tsk.
The Imabari Guild member set down his bowl with an irritated clatter.
“If they’re going to help, they should help properly. Why are they only taking a support role? They’re saying we have to handle everything except the main boss monster ourselves.”
“Keep your voice down. The translator might pick it up.”
“At first, I was glad that an S-rank from another country was coming, but this is nothing more than a performance. It’s so petty!”
The A-rank hunter grumbled, then added:
“I wish Jung Haseong had come instead.”
Even Hunter Iori found {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} it difficult to disagree.
“That’s true...”
The hunter industry in Japan had developed in an atmosphere markedly different from Korea’s.
For one thing, all four of the country’s S-rank hunters belonged to the same guild.
Harmony and cooperation.
Though it might have reduced their individual efficiency slightly, Japan’s S-rank hunters chose to wear equipment that protected them from one another’s elemental attributes, allowing them to coordinate their movements with their teammates.
As a result, the Imabari Guild possessed a considerable stockpile of high-performance fire-resistance equipment.
“We can withstand Ito’s abilities, so if Hunter Jung Ha-seong had come, our synergy would undoubtedly have been better.”
Wasn’t Imabari unmatched when it came to cooperating with the very best?
Iori thought this as he licked his lips.
He felt a faint pang of regret that he had lost the opportunity to fight alongside Korea’s number one hunter.
“By the way, did those Koreans not bring any resistance equipment?”
“They said it would be fine because neither of them intends to stand on the front lines.”
“Honestly, they’re so irritating. Those suspicious bastards. I hope they end up getting nothing but worthless junk from the dungeon rewards.”
But at that moment, none of them knew.
They had no idea what sort of turmoil the hunter with the sambagean eyes would bring to this raid.
***
A little later.
“_”
“_”
Japan’s elite hunters and the dispatched team from Korea stepped into the S-rank gate.
However, their objective this time was not to clear it.
They were merely testing and arranging their formation before the true hunt began.
“Huh?”
The hunters from the island nation had decided to demonstrate their combat style by practicing on a lone dragon lingering near the entrance.
At that moment, one of the dispatched Korean hunters spoke up.
He said he wanted to test whether his ability would function properly.
And the result was the scene now unfolding before them.
Kwaaagh!
Grrr...
A monstrous creature, vast as a black tidal wave, roared before the group.
Yet unlike the absolute, majestic beings described in myth, this creature had been reduced to a pitiful sight, its entire body bound by thick strands of light.
Sseup.
The dragon inflated its lungs.
Then it exhaled, spewing a torrent of potent venom from its mouth.
Humans, beasts, plants.
The vicious poison emitted by the dragon was capable of bringing death to every living thing.
Yet even the dragon’s breath, saturated with tremendous magical power, could not break the threads restraining it.
On the contrary, the more violently the reptile struggled, the deeper the threads tore into its body, sending blood pouring from its wounds.
Kaaa! Krrr...
It was a truly gruesome end.
The hunters gathered inside the gate fell silent as they stared at the reptile. Its eyes had rolled back into its skull, and it had died from catastrophic blood loss.
“It seems to be working well.”
The one who broke the silence was a blond man.
‘I only tested it for a moment, and one entire core has already been drained.’
Ugh!
The [Infinite Power Core] had never been an item suited for hunting in the first place.
If mana potions were hamburgers, then the core was gasoline.
It was not something meant to be consumed by a person, but a material designed to supply power to a specific spell within a fixed area.
‘If I could cast Fireball with this magic core, I’d already be no different from Jung Haseong.’
But once a limitation was pushed to its extreme, a path forward often revealed itself.
Before the skill of a great magician, the core’s lack of mobility became a trivial inconvenience.
Using that magical power source, he had constructed a spell capable of restraining even a dragon.
‘T-That ability... Could it be [Binding]?’
What he had demonstrated was a low-level restraint spell.
On Earth, it was known as [Binding].
‘The greater your magical power, the stronger the binding force becomes. It shouldn’t seem that strange for an S-class hunter to accomplish something like this, right?’
Unlike the awakened people of this world, he was a genuine magician and could manually adjust the intensity of his binding spell.
Nevertheless, Giryeo merely nodded and kept silent.
If they discovered that the others had to activate their powers using their own bodies, while he could delegate even that process to the core, their reaction would not end with mere envy.
“Hmm.”
Of course, there were other reasons why the spell could not be used recklessly.
One of the cores he possessed had been destroyed during the demonstration just now.
It would never function again.
“In any case, I’ve shown you what I can do, so I’ll leave the rest to you. If you protect me until we reach the end of the dungeon, I’ll restrain the boss in exactly the same way. I’ll make sure to seal its mouth as well. It won’t be able to do anything.”
It was, in every respect, the very height of inefficiency.
At this point, it would not have been an exaggeration to call it [Binding at the Cost of Bankrupting Yourself]...
Giryeo quietly concluded his thoughts.
Yet, for some reason, no answer came from the other side.
“That’s Binding?”
“What kind of absurdity is this...”
“Why is a hunter like that only ranked ninth in Korea?”
Murmur.
The Japanese hunters suddenly began whispering among themselves, their expressions grave.
“Ito-san, now that I think about it, I heard somewhere that this person doesn’t belong to any guild.”
And with that single remark, the atmosphere around them began to shift.
“He doesn’t have a guild?”
“He isn’t affiliated with one?”
“Yes. From what I investigated, that man is completely independent.”
“Huh?”
“What?”